Response to the AP Exam

After reading the AP English Course Description and doing the multiple choice section, I am nervous about the exam. The course description said that the exam is three hours long and has multiple choice problems and essays. I do not think I will have enough time to do everything on the exam because it takes me awhile to process my thoughts. Just doing the practice multiple choice section took me two hours to do, where as the course description says that they allow sixty minutes on that section. In addition, it was hard to concentrate as I got tired and frustrated.

I am not comfortable with either parts of the exam. Even though in the multiple choice section there are answers given, it is still hard and I missed 14 questions, which is a 74.5%. It seems that they put 3 obviously wrong answers, but they leave two answers that could possibly be correct. It is hard to figure out nuances. Also, the questions and answers of the problem sometimes contained vocabulary words that I did not know the meaning of. Therefore, this made the process of choosing the correct response hard. I was not sure when to guess as there is a 0.25 point reduction for each wrong answer. I need to have a better grasp of rhetorical strategies, author’s style and tone, and literary devices. Perhaps by doing more practice tests, I will be better able to figure out the correct answers. It would be nice to understand the logic behind choosing one answer over another, when they are similar.

In the essay section, I will probably figure out something to write, but it’s the time that is the problem. I have to read the sections, think about them, outline points to write about, and then compose my response. Two hours does not seem to be enough, so I will have to write my responses quickly, which means they might not be as good. In conclusion, I think that every part of the test is going to be a challenge. I hope that through the course I will gain knowledge and the confidence I need to be successful on the AP English Exam.